Agency Marketing and Fundraising Project

For this project, students will interview the CEO/Executive Director of a nonprofit agency of their choice to learn about the agency’s strategies for both marketing and fundraising. Students will apply what they have learned in the course and apply it to the agency in order to identify best practices and provide recommendations for improvements in these areas.

The Interview
Students will select an agency and conduct either a telephone or in-person interview with an Executive Director and gathering information from them so that you learn about their strategies and tools used for marketing and fundraising. Be sure to check the agency’s website and you will also find out a lot of information there, even before the interview.

The Format
The project will be submitted as an Executive Summary. Executive Summaries come in all shapes and sizes, and are used for different purposes, such as at the introduction of a much longer data report, in nonprofit annual reports, as informational materials in public presentations to city councils (for ex), and for grant applications. Links are provided to help you see examples of what these can look like. This is different from an academic paper, in that it is usually approximately 3-5 pages long.

The skill being developed here is in finding the important points and data, and
expressing them in powerful language that is substantive and concise.
THIS is a very important skill in any sector today.

When the project is finished, the Executive Summary will include the following FOUR sections.
When it comes to the SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS, these are divided into TWO parts, which will be submitted during Module 4 (I & II) and Module 7 (Revised I and II, plus III & IV):

I. Introduction and Background of the agency (Very brief, more is to be provided in sections below)
II. Definitions and Methods of Analysis
a. Marketing
i. Definition of Marketing (in general)
ii. Methods the organization uses in Marketing
1. Who is their target audience?
2. What are their offerings?
3. How do they communicate their mission and their offerings to their various audiences and stakeholders?
b. Fundraising
i. Definition of Fundraising
ii. Methods the organization uses to raise funds
iii. This list includes different ways they bring in money, events, grants, donations, etc.
Note: This summary should be single spaced, include headings and subeadings, and/or bullets as relevant. Also use bold/italics and other methods to make main points stand out and have a professional and aesthetic look. Length of the entire document should be a maximum of 4 pages.

Examples of Nonprofit Executive Summaries:
http://nonprofit.about.com/od/foundationfundinggrants/a/proposalsummary.htm
http://www.bplans.com/nonprofit_youth_services_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.php
http://www.bplans.com/nonprofit_food_bank_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.php
BOOK TO USE:
Worth, M. (2013). Nonprofit management: Principles and practice (Third ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishers Inc.Nonprofit Management Book Cover
Title Nonprofit management: Principles and practice (Third ed.).
Author Michael Worth
ISBN ISBN-10: 1452243093
ISBN-13: 978-1452243092
AND ANY OTHER RESOUCRES